


The Doctor and the Bookseller

by SilverDrake



Series: Doctor Who: The Bookseller [1]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Bologna, Gen, Italy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-15
Updated: 2013-06-15
Packaged: 2017-12-15 00:24:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/843173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverDrake/pseuds/SilverDrake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor lands in present-day Italy to deal with the mysteries of a medieval town.<br/>A new Doctor, a new companion and hopefully the first of several adventures.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Doctor and the Bookseller

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tanachvil](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tanachvil/gifts).



> First proper fanfic I ever wrote, inspired by a strange and wonderful online encounter.  
> Tried to challenge myself both with dealing (partially, since it is a new non-canon Doctor, but still "him") with the basics of fanfic, that is using someone else's setting, and writing in a limited timeframe (one week conception to completion). Applied a tiny bit of cleaning up only (and lost a bit of formatting from the original doc, just some italics for conversations accents, should be barely noticeable), don't know if I will ever have the chance to hammer at it properly, more likely I'll get on with further episodes.

The whole city was covered in pitch black darkness.  
The girl was sweating. She could picture the creatures coming at her. All the creatures from all parts of the city. And she had to open the door. No wonder she was sweating.  
She hadn’t even known any of this just a few days earlier. But then again, she had not known about the stranger either. And somehow she had trusted him. Why?

***

The store had been empty for a while now. It was good. Nothing as bothersome as having to shove late customers out at midnight. Some times it was lost to her why so many morons had to pop up in a place of culture, as if they even cared about it. And how she found the patience to deal with them.  
But there she was, waiting a few minutes still to close the doors, giving one last look around to be sure that everything was in place for tomorrow. Except for... a rustle. A brief rustling sound from the third floor. Not now, she thought as she took the stairs in the hope that it was just something falling from a shelf. It wasn’t.  
A strange man was standing in front of her, apparently deep in a book about heraldry and looking completely out of place, or maybe it was just his clothes: the jeans and the leather jacket were ordinary per se, less so the hairy bright orange scarf and the panama hat, clashing with each other so strongly that it seemed one of them would shoot off at any moment. And why a panama hat when it had been snowing for the last couple of days? And moreso: why right at closing time? Damn.  
«Mister?» she called, to no response. «Excuse me, sir, we are closing.»  
No answer. He was standing still, his face covered by the hat.  
«Sir? Oi!» she called again.  
Now he was really getting on her nerves. And she would have to walk up to him. She was not at all sure that it was a good idea, at that hour and alone in the shop. But she could not let him stay there either.  
She walked around the aisles of the kids section, and straight in his face, just a few inches away from the unmoving stranger, a book about heraldry open in his hands.  
«Look, you...» and she lifted the brim of the hat.  
Pale blue eyes were staring straight at her. She istinctively stepped back, more angry than frightened. What was all that about? Had he just been waiting for that?  
As she was opening her mouth again, the stranger's eyes widened and he cocked his head on the side a bit, as if he was suddenly feeling lost.  
«I did it again, didn't I?» he asked  
She was considering screaming at him, but she summoned her patience.  
«Did what?»  
«Being rude.»  
He is obviously insane, she thought. Still, she had to get him out of the shop; the sooner the better.  
«Listen...»  
«I'm very sorry,» he added, putting the book down.  
«You are?» she asked, her voice now clearly irritated. «Well, in that case, please know that you are doing it again right now. So, if you can behave like a sane person for, say, one single minute, would you please step out of the store so I can close it down and go home?»  
«Oh...» he wondered, his eyes shooting around in something that looked like embarrassment. «Well, sure. Of course.»  
The stranger started to turn towards the stairs, then he stopped suddenly and looked back at the girl.  
«Oh, by the way, that was actually what I was going to do.»  
«Going to do what?»  
«Well, leaving the store. I just had to wait for... well, you.»  
«Me.»  
For some reason, the stranger's eyes showed a glint of expectation. The girl wondered if he realised how creepy the situation was.  
«Look, mister, I do not know who you are or what...»  
«You are right, and I am so sorry,» he interrupted her. Again.  
«What now?» she asked, exasperated.  
«I did not tell you my name.»  
«Yes, you didn't, but that was not the point!»  
«Sure it is. I am trying to be... proper, if you want. Something that doesn't agree with me, apparently.»  
«To be honest, you are probably right, mister.»  
«Well, so allow me to apologize and introduce myself.»  
Whatever, just go, she screamed silently.  
The stranger smiled and said:  
«Hi, I'm the Doctor.»  
The girl shot a skeptical look at him.  
«The Doctor?»  
«Exactly. And what's your name, if I may?»  
«Well, I would be the Bookseller then.»  
«Is that your actual name?» he asked, with a perplexed expression.  
«Was yours?» she shot back.  
«Fair point,» he smiled. «Though I didn't think you were that attached to your job.»  
«Really,» she said, too tired to think of anything else except letting it end.  
«Or so it seems. I've watched you during the evening. You are the kindest of the kind, patient and charming, but you are also very frustrated with these people who come at you every day. Still, you love some part of it, that I noticed. And seeing as most of what you keep here is books... You must be the Book Lady.»  
Kill me now, please, she thought.  
«Book Lady?»  
«Yes. Sounds appropriate, too, now that I think about it. Time Lord, Book Lady...»  
«Time Lord? You?»  
«Why?»  
«Because you don't seem to have any sense of time at all.»  
«Actually,» he observed, pointedly, «my sense of time has no paragon on this planet. Sense of timing may be slightly off, instead, I have to say. But that's because I work on a... well, different level. Non-linear, that is.»  
«Look, mister, I will ask you this just one time, and please answer honestly because I don't think I have the patience to handle more of this non-sense.»  
She drew a deep breath.  
«Are you by any chance insane?»  
The stranger looked around again, as if lost in some unexpressed thought.  
«Well... No. I wouldn't say I am.»  
«This is very good,» she sighed, trying to keep her voice steady. «Then, why is it that you are still here when closing time has passed us by, ridden home and found a comfortable bed under itself?»  
«Sorry, I thought I had been clear before. I was waiting.»  
«Waiting for what?»  
«Waiting for who, you mean.»  
«Then who?»  
«You.»  
«Me.»  
«Precisely.»  
Where's the pepper spray when you need it, she sighed. Not out of fear, but in frustration.  
But then something caught her attention. The stranger did not feel dangerous. The guy was as creepy as a graveyard of tactless zombies, and probably actually insane, but unless he had an extremely long winded plan to harm her, something out of an old comic book, that must not be his intent.  
«Now, we've been about this for quite a while now, mister. Is there any chance in hell you will explain what this is about and why I am in the picture? Because I'm really getting to the point where I throw you out in a totally unprofessional way and to hell with consequences.»  
«You're very welcome,» he answered, enthusiastically. «Shall we go?»  
«Where?»  
«Outside. You weren't really thinking of staying here, were you?»  
She would later remember feeling the ensuing silence would have won every awkwardness contest.  
«You do realise,» she said at last, «that getting you out of here was exactly the point from the start?»  
«But I would not have gotten your attention, then, would I?»  
All of her trains of thoughts stopped right in their tracks. Where did that come from? Was there any state of mind that would not find place in the stranger’s head at any time? She got the shy, she got the mad, in an harmless-mad-scientist kind of vibe, she even got the possible attempt at whimsy if that was the intent when he pissed her off so skillfully. But she had not factored purpose in. It seemed to run against everything else, a tsunami wave of focus against a stone city of idle musings.  
«Who are you?» she blurted out.  
«Precisely,» he answered readily.  
That was better, at least he was not making any sense again, which, for the 10 minutes she had known him, meant him being back to his old self. If he had one. Or only one.  
«Why don’t we do this: we go to the first floor, I close the store and we both leave, possibly going separate ways. As far apart as possible would be perfect.»  
«What part of it would you settle for?»  
She did not answer, but turned away and followed the stairs to the first floor, with the stranger in tow. She picked up her stuff behind the counter, checking that she had everything she could need; strange enough, she felt a bit paranoid as she checked her self-defence resources. She very nearly pushed him out of the doors and followed, turning off the last switches and bringing down the shutter.  
They were now alone in the dark of the town centre, small streets and quite a few medieval buildings.  
«Now what?» she asked the stranger.  
«Well, I come with you wherever it is you need to go?»  
You really do not realise how insane you sound, she thought.  
«And why would that be, again? Especially considering I am pretty much free now to go my own way. This is not exactly a closed space like the store, you know.»  
«Because it’s dangerous and you should not go alone.»  
«Well, my dear, I am very sure that your intentions are good, but believe me: I can take care of myself, especially when my knight in shining armour could easily pass as one of the bad guys. Plus, let’s face it, you don’t exacly look intimidating. First, you are a bit sh...»  
«Un-tall, thank you,» he interrupted brusquely, and apparently a bit piqued. «But please, you are too smart to really think that... I mean, take a look around you. Six billions. And counting!» he proclaimed with fervour. «Project it through the past and the future, of course with due correction for population raise and decline, adjust for emigration when you reach for the stars,» he rambled before reasserting himself. «Anyway, that means... lots of people. Lots. Many of them quite fantastic in their own so very human way.Then I come through space and time to single you out... because you could get into a street robbery?»  
«I wouldn’t complain, to be honest,» she answered readily.  
She chuckled inside. For once, it seems the stranger’s trick was on him, and he was getting uncomfortable, apparently.  
«There is much more at stake,» he said, and this time he sounded so serious she worried.  
«Like what?» she asked, very much tired of being fed the story in drops.  
«Shall we walk?»  
Keep your friends close and enemies closer? she thought, let’s see if it works.  
«Well, if that is what you really want, you can tag along.»  
And started with her quickest pace, but he kept up.  
«You asked me to tell you everything, didn’t you?»  
«I was quite specific. I am not sure I want to know anything else from a compromised mind. Or, at least, I don’t think I would believe a word.»  
«Well, it would be practical indeed. And convenient, very convenient. Just push off the map anything that does not fit the model. But you know what? You are better than this, Book Lady, I have no doubt. You are smart, you have an inquisitive mind and you enjoy handling complex and apparently inconsistent notions. You are comfortable with stories that have several sides to them.»  
«You seem to know an awful lot about me, mister.»  
«Not as much as I would like, my dear.»  
«Right,» she reproached, «and what would be enough for you?»  
«Well... everything. I’m the curious type.»  
He had spoken in a casual tone, as if what he was saying was the most natural and obvious thing to say to a complete stranger.  
«Ok, let’s entertain for a very brief instant the notion that this is not horribly intrusive slash creepy slash I’m sorely tempted to clock you and close this thing right now. Now tell me, and remember there is very little patience still separating you from a hard, wet impact with the street: how comes all this weird stuff you are saying is about me? Be very specific, for your own sake.»  
«Well, to begin with...»  
He stopped suddenly. As they talked, they had reach the town square, and he was staring nervously at a towering statue of Neptune on a fountain.  
«Listen, I know it is an amazing work, but there’s no need to stop dead like that.»  
«Sure, a very good sculpture,» he admitted, «and you may have noticed that his finger is pointing at you.»  
«Of course, it’s a well known fact. And if you look from the correct point of view it will look like it’s Neptune’s dick. Suits my hometown to have a prankster creating one of its most defining symbols,» she laughed.  
«Ok, I can imagine that it makes some sense. But then I would have to ask you another small thing about the square, and the building with the clock on our left.»  
«Shoot away,» she said, looking straight at him.  
«I suppose your most illustrious bishop was a very judgemental person, am I right?»  
«Well,» she answered keeping her eyes on him, «maybe. He lived long ago so what we do know is really the way the people thought of him. And they remembered him as a kind, benevolent leader. He is always depicted blessing or healing.»  
«Good, Book Lady, very good,» the stranger said, looking more and more agitated. «So tell me one more thing: why is it he is pointing straight at you too?»  
She looked up, about to comment on how paranoid he must be, and fell silent. The benevolent blessing gesture of the saint had been replaced with a harsh look and a finger pointing right at her, as if accusing.  
«I suggest we make a run for it and leave discussions for later,» said the stranger.  
«The first time I agree with you since I met you,» said the girl, and turned back from where they came, not in a full run but hurriedly.  
«Why are you going back?» said the stranger, trying to keep up.  
«Did you really think I would have led a delusional madman to my home?»  
«Cannot argue with that,» he admitted.  
As they got farther and farther from the statues, the girl noticed the stranger kept glancing back.  
«Isn’t that a bit too much? Whatever they can do, they are still statues. It’s not like they can come at us, is it?»  
«It’s a tad more complicated than that. I will try to explain as soon as I can breathe.»  
They continued in silence until the girl stopped in front of a large wooden gate.  
«Home,» she mused as she opened a smaller door inside the frame.  
As the stranger made to follow her inside, she turned around blocking his way.  
«Look, mister,» and somehow she felt she should apologize. «I have had a long day, and you... probably you would be like this even if you just woke up. But me... I was tired before meeting you, and you were quite exasperating, and... I’m not sure what I saw was real, maybe it was just some kind of suggestion, I don’t know. Whatever it was, I’m home and I’m safe. And I should take some rest, as you should. Sleeping over it, you know. I am sure everything will be alright in the light of the morning.»  
The stranger looked slightly disappointed, but not too crushed about it. She told herself not to try and understand whatever he was thinking.  
«So... Doctor... thanks for whatever help you gave, if you gave any. And good night. I’ll keep an eye open and tell you if any statue comes to bother me. What do you think?»  
«Well, Book Lady... Be careful, then. And good night.»  
She closed the door and walked inside the building. It had been a while since she had thought about the statue of Minerva standing guard in the hall. As she looked at her it seemed that something was slightly off about it, but she could not pinpoint what; she was too tired and tense for all the senseless things that had happened in such a short time.  
She passed by it, and climbed the stairs. As she was unlocking the door to her house, she heard a whirr and the gate on the first floor slammed open. Istinctively she looked down and there she saw it. Minerva looking straight towards her, her finger pointing at her.  
Trying not to panic, she hurriedly opened the door, entered and closed it behind her locking everything she could lock. She realized that she was breathing heavily. As a faint muffled sound of footsteps echoed from the first floor, she laid down on the couch and blacked out. 

***

She felt groggy as she woke up. She must have had a troubled sleep. After all, her memories of the night were a bit sketchy, surely mixed up with some weird dream she must have had. A complete stranger appearing in the store and escorting her through the city as statues came to life?  
You've got to be kidding me, she thought, wondering where did she get so smashed as to remember stuff like that. She stared at the ceiling of the mansard for a while, wondering if there was anything real at all in her memories. No answer came, at least not a clear one.  
So she decided to get up and get on with her day. But as she rose, her gaze went to the window. Before she herself knew, she had screamed at the top of her lungs at the presence right outside. And she had tripped in the coffe table. And crashed uncerimoniously on the floor.  
The stranger took a strange tool out of his jacket and effortlessly unlocked the window, jumping into the room.  
He managed to get on his knees and open his mouth to say "Are you well?" when the girl punched him and sent him straight down beside her.  
«What?!» he cried.  
«This was for being real. And you better get out of my range before I get to the stalking issue, because I swear I'm going to hurt you this time.»  
More than surprised or scared, she felt extremely pissed off, not to speak of the fact that now she had to reabsorb everything she remembered of the evening in a few seconds.  
«You are violent, you know that?»  
«It has occurred to me, yes.»  
«Well,» he said, pulling himself up, «now you got that out of your system at least. Or I really hope so, I'd like to survive the morning if you don't mind.»  
He offered the girl his hand to get up and she stared at him with suspicion. Maybe because his eyes were now green, and she found it slightly unsettling. She pulled up by herself.  
«You are extremely inappropriate, mister. And the definition of improper,» she said as she walked to the kicthen side of the mansard. «So I suggest you use this moment to explain yourself very clearly. And keep in mind I've got boiling water here.»  
«Sure,» came a slightly dismissive voice, but she did not care.  
The stranger took his time and the girl was starting to wonder if anything was wrong, but she wanted to show that she was in control and that his rants were not that important. She needed to believe that.  
«Well,» he said at last, «I should begin by saying that no, I do not know yet why you are in the picture. It is a strange and wonderful coincidence, though. I should ponder on that later.»  
«You do have any intention of saying something useful, then?»  
«I like my irony as I like my wit: sharp and relentless. So you are very much appreciated, Book Lady. But let's not lose ourselves in pleasantries, of course. Concerning your recent troubles, my diagnosis is simple: you have a bad case of the angels.»  
«Angels?» she said turning towards the stranger and shut up abruptly.  
She walked quickly up to him slammed the lid of her notebook on his hands. He let out a yelp.  
«And be thankful the tea is still on the counter!» she said. «Really, do you have any sort of consideration for rules, spaces... privacy! That computer is my life. Do you realise how horribly intrusive you are?»  
Th stranger looked up at her, the vaguest hint of an apology on his face. Probably for her being upset, rather than for his behaviour.  
«So, what did you find out about me now?» she asked.  
«Well, actually nothing much,» he answered, dropping back on the sofa. «I don't need your computer to find out things about you. After all, it's something you use all the time and there's little sense in doing heavy replication of data you yourself knew in the beginning. And I needed time to get my screwdriver out to check inside».  
«So much for the technology expert. A screwdriver. This is really rich.»  
«Anyway,» said the stranger, as if he had not heard, «there are much better places. I wonder if your realise how many channels you are using to convey information to those who know you... and those who not.»  
«Really?»  
«Really. And then you have this,» he said, picking up a phone from his pockets. «I swear, the data banks of the TARDIS are nothing short of impressive, but you have this... Google. It's really amazing. With time you may almost give the TARDIS a run for its money. And you are a very public person, which I respect and maybe even admire. But that will always end up revealing quite a few things about you.»  
«So you know, what... everything about me?»  
«Far from it,» said the stranger with a half smile. «You are a complex, layered and faceted individual. I would never say that I really know much about you. I know a few things and can hazard a guess on many, but there are so many more that I do not know or can barely imagine. You are a very interesting individual, Book Lady.»  
«Am I? Does it have anything to do with these so-called angels?»  
«Yes you are, and maybe. I have a theory but there will be a time for it.»  
«So what are they? Why this statue business?»  
«Well, the angels are very ancient creatures, dating back to the birth of the universe. It has been said of them that they are the kindest predators in the universe.»  
«Being that?»  
«Being that they don't hurt you, they simply push you back in time. Of course, unless they break your neck.»  
«Wait! Where is the kindness in that?»  
«There's none.»  
«Why did you say they were kind predators, then?»  
«After a few million years even monsters are entitled to a few idiosincracies, don't you think?»  
She looked at him grumpily.  
«So suddenly the fluffy wings are going around killing and push people in time?»  
«Well, there's no fluffiness to them, for sure. They are made of stone.»  
«I suppose that makes it hard to get rid of them.»  
«Quite.»  
«And how would you plan to, as you said, "protect" me?»  
«I am working on it, of course. Unfortunately, you need to get extremely creative with foes such as these. I...» he added as a shadow passed on his eyes, «I lost friends to them. I would gladly avoid losing more.»  
She watched the stranger look around the house, something haunting the thousand miles stare of his grey eyes. He seemed younger and much older than he looked. And there was both anger and resignation in his last few words. And she remembered him being stupidly playful just seconds earlier, and now he had this aura of misery spreading everywhere around him as if that pain had been constantly on his mind during all their talk, just waiting to come out. It didn't feel like he stayed in the balance, rather than he was several incompatible things at the same time. Or were they?  
«I'm sorry about that. How are you holding together?»  
«I'm not. But It was a long time ago, actually. Only sometimes it is difficult to separate the far from the near and have all the things line up in the correct sequence. I'm usually the kind of guy who jumbles the sequence. Though, of course, for very good reasons. And the benefit of those involved, theoretically.»  
«As much as I am sorry for you, I think there's one thing I should say... Like... You are weird, you know?»  
«I may have had a passing knowledge of that, yes indeed.»  
Then the stranger fell silent. The girl was not sure if he was really there with her or not. He surely seemed to have a lot on his mind. He also seemed very confused. If he was not batshit crazy, which a big part of her was definitely bent on thinking. And wondering if she should not kick him out of the house, effective immediately. But he still did not feel dangerous, even if she would not have minded not being in such an enclosed space; just in case.  
«What if I showed you the town a bit?»  
«Sorry?» he lifted his eyes, as if he just came back from another time and place.  
«You know, fresh air, fresh ideas and such.»  
«Might be a good idea,» he said, his usual persona slowly coming through again. «We should... investigate. Look in places, finding clues... Assembling ideas. Sounds great, actually!»  
The stranger jumped up from the couch and looked straight at the girl, his eyes now a bright blue. She wondered if they would start glowing, now.  
«Exactly how do you do that... thing?» she tentatively asked, not sure he was listening.  
«Don't know. Don't really care. Whatever it is,» he answered absently.  
It was like his head was again in a very different place, if a better one at least.  
«Look, Book Lady, what you just said... Great idea, that's what it is. Wonder why I didn't think of it myself. Not as smart as I expected, possibly. Must take note.»  
«What are you on about, exactly? Seems like you are talking about someone else.»  
«In a way. I'll explain later. Shall we go?»  
"Well, I can always run in an open space, can't I?" she thought.

***

After a while they were back in the main square, the fountain looking down at them and quite a lot of people going about their own business. There was still some snow piled against the walls around them, but most of it was gone.  
They had walked in near silence, the stranger taking out a notebook and writing the odd note here and there. Actually it seemed he was making diagrams, complex combinations of circles and lines, and not a letter in sight.  
«It's Gallifreyan,» he said all of a sudden as he was taking the notebook out once more. «The language of my birthplace. It's lost now, of course.»  
The stranger didn't seem to be in pain about it as much as when mentioning his friends. He looked relaxed overall, not even keeping his eyes on the fountain statue, now back to its usual pose. For some reason things were now safe, or supposed to be, apparently.  
The girl thought it might be a good occasion to try and find out more about her strange guest.  
«So, what is it you do, again? I mean, sure you are here, now, but where did you jump out from?»  
She would have added "Seriously, this time" but she was not at all sure that it would mean anything to the stranger.  
«I am a traveller,» he said. «Or was one, at least.»  
«But you call yourself a doctor?»  
«Well, no. Other people call me the Doctor. Because I am in fact the Doctor.»  
«You are not making much sense. Again. It seems to be a defining trait for you.»  
«Then I should take not about it. I'm still getting used to be me.»  
That was where she lost it. She turned to look at him, grabbed his head and turned it so fast that it occurred to her later that she risked breaking his neck. They were now staring at each other right in the eye. And his were back to being grey.  
«Now, Doctor. Now you will give me the full brief on who and what you are and what the hell is happening in something that resembles a logical sequence, or I swear to any deity in a pantheon of your choice that I will hang you to the fountain and have Neptune have his way with you. Clear?»  
«Crystal,» he answered, a serious look on his face at last.  
«And stop doing that thing with the eyes, it's getting on my nerves.»  
«Don't know of it works, yet. But wait, I'll get to that too... in time. Could you stop holding my head, in the meantime? I can feel the pressure.»  
She let him go and sighed. And she was very surprised when he took her hand in his and held itto his chest.  
She was about to protest, and possibly hit him, when she felt it.  
«Can you hear it?» he said, for the first time since she met him with true warmth in his voice.  
«How can it... What does it mean?»  
«Two hearts. No madness, no suggestion, this is what I am: a Time Lord from planet Gallifrey. I have been travelling through time and space for a thousand years in a vessel called the TARDIS and I am the last of my kind.»  
«What does it mean?» she asked again, if only because she could not come up with a different question.  
«It means that I see the pathways. I can see the timelines in the universe and reality splitting up every single time a choice is made. I can feel this planet roar through the void hurling around its star and I hear the whole system breathing, blissfully unaware of its own unavoidable course in some million years. I can feel all of this, and I can jump and run through all of it. And for some crazy reason, right now you are the one person the pathways collapse into and depart from. Whatever happens now passes straight throw you, Book Lady.»  
She looked in those ever-changing eyes, as if they could reveal anything different than what her hands were feeling. And just to add more strange to the mix, they had changed again in a mix of different colours she could not find a definition for.  
«Your eyes, they are doing it again.»  
«Doing what?»  
«Changing, I guess.»  
«This is not ordinary, I'll admit it. They should have settled, by now.»  
«Settled?»  
«There's this thing that happens to my kind, when things go really wrong; deadly wrong, and I mean it. What happens is that we sort of change, a bit like becoming someone new. Keep the memories, leave everything else at the door. Thing is, the change is very quick, but it does take a while to stabilise.»  
She felt more than a little bewildered. Whatever this man slash alien being was really describing, it felt like something devastating and shattering. But here he was, speaking of it as a sidenote. What could have he gone through to describe it in such a way?  
«What happened?» was all she could ask.  
«I don't know for sure. I have been travelling alone for a long while now, so I had assumed everything was stable, but maybe I was just wandering, drifting.»  
«As opposed to, here and now?»  
«Purpose, I guess. It feels different, anyway. But I guess the eyes will keep doing that, they've been at it for a while now. Think you can stand it?»  
«I think so, yes.»  
He let her hand go. She didn't lift it. She needed a few more seconds to process it all. "Scratch that," she thought. There was no way on Earth she could really process something like that. It was like falling, standing back up and realising a microfracture was suddenly there. Even if it was not an arm or a leg but her sense of reality. It was too much.  
«Are you still here?» the Doctor asked.  
«Yes, I am,» she shook herself.  
«I think I have a vague idea of what the game here is. Or may be.»  
«How?»  
«Well, I have been looking at the architecture and monuments while we walked, and I have just noticed one thing in this square.»  
«Go on.»  
«The church. It's not finished.»  
«Yes, a well known fact.»  
«Sure, but would you enlighten me on the why?»  
«Well, we were an independent city and decided to build ourselves a church that was bigger than any other, included the church of the Pope himself in Rome.»  
«Way to go with diplomatic relations, I imagine.»  
«Pretty much. The project was changed time and time again, and in the end a lot of stuff was cut.»  
«But you never finished even the part that you built.»  
«That's quite obvious to anyone, don't you think?»  
«And that is what is really interesting in this story,» he lightened up. «You would think they had the resources to complete it properly since they had to make the whole project so much smaller.»  
«I think it was a bit more complicated than that, but at a basic level it makes sense, in some way. Where are you going with that?»  
«Well, I was thinking that... Do you know any good bookstore nearby?»  
There was an awkward silence all of a sudden.  
«Really,» she said, at last.  
«Sure, why?»  
«Come,» she sighed.  
Just a couple of blocks away, they entered the bookstore as the girl gestured her colleagues that she was clearly handling a guest of some kind and that she prayed them not to get too much in the way. She wondered what kind of favours she would have to do to repay. But at least nobody treated them as anything else than common customers.  
«I was wondering why you did not worry too much about them in the light of day,» the girl asked.  
«They are not too much trouble in the presence of people, and today the square was crowded.»  
«Sure, but how?»  
«They are quantum locked. Essentially, as soon as someone sees them, they turn into stone. That's how they work at a very basic level, they have little control over it.»  
«So?»  
«So if you are alone and see one of them... Don't blink.»  
«And what is it you are looking for now?»  
He had started browsing through the books about the town.  
«A pattern. Oh, and did you know there are a number of things about this town that are really fascinating? I can't help but think there are many more mysteries here than the one I stumbled upon...»  
«You're rambling.»  
«Right,» he admitted, with a guilty look. «So here is our answer.»  
He had opened a large book on an antique picture of the town, with tens of towers looking over it, soaring towards the sky.  
«What about it?» asked the girl.  
«The angels, they are very smart, at least as long as their "feeding" habits are concerned. Too smart for their own good, actually. Do you remember I told you they send people back in time?»  
«Sure.»  
«Well, that's what they use to feed themselves. The time energy involved in the jump. But it's also what gives them away, because they are not exactly the kind to worry about traces. So, what is the worst period ever in the life of the city?»  
«Not much before year 1000, if I recall correctly.»  
«Exactly. Town almost deserted, keeps hemorraging people, the few that live in the area stay out, in the countryside. And guess what, when someone is sent back, they land in a period of complete turmoil where people can appear or disappear without anyone to notice that. Very clever, in a way.»  
«And how does that come into play now?»  
«Several elements. First: towers. This city used to have an insane amount of towers, even for medieval standards, and some of them were so close that they would have encouraged a lot of conflict, even more than what the town experienced, unless there was some sort of agreement about them. So what is it you do with a tower, first and foremost?»  
«Watch. Of course,» she said as the implication dawned on her.  
«Exactly. If you were to develop a bit of angelophobia, this is what you would do. Unless, that is, you have any reason to believe they are actually still there. Then you really need them. But there's more. The walls of this city. The oldest they built. This is going to blow your socks off,» he grinned. «They were built in selenite!»  
«A well known fact. So?»  
«The ancient romans had a name for this mineral: lapis specularis.»  
«The mirror stone!»  
«Precisely!» he cried.  
And suddenly went silent, with a mightily embarrassed look on his face.  
«Bloody clever folks, your fellow citizens,» he continued, in a hushed but concitated tone, unable to contain his excitement. «I must look into this, in the future, but for some reason, even when not in its mirror form, this material hampers the movement of the angels. So what if the walls were meant as a prison for the angels? At least in the short run.»  
«Then you get one into your house,» she complained.  
«Yes, not pleasant at all,» he conceded, looking slightly put off by that observation. «But I would say that's accidental. I guess provisions were made only for the grand public buildings in a specific period, and the knowledge was lost afterwards. The others... I guess I may have a plan for them.»  
«And that would be?»  
«You are not going to like it, I suspect.»  
«Why? Am I involved again?»  
Quite a bit. As in...» he stammered for a second, as if struggling with sounding convincing, «you should take them on, face to face.»  
«Are you...» she started, very loud, then suddenly stopped to whisper, though as loud as whispering would allow. «...completely crazy? Do I look like the suicidal hero?»  
«Sure you don't. Then again, what you don't have in expertise you make up in inspiration. All those stories, and adventures, and tales of conflict and courage, I'm sure you have taken in much more than anybody else in... well, a wide range.»  
«And you do really think that will be enough to face monster from the dawn of time?»  
«Of course not, but it will give you enough courage to get through it. Come on, Book Lady, that's what stories are made for. Why they are told and retold from the day a species finds a way to communicate. It's not to pass simple information, it's a way to shape the mind and its capabilities, a way to tell and remember what can be achieved and what are good reasons to achieve it.»  
"Strangest pep talk I ever had," the girl thought.  
«Ok, I will try...» she began, then changed her mind. «No, I will do it.»  
«Good girl,» smiled the Doctor.  
And then he suddenly turned darker, seemingly worried. She was nearly coming to terms with these mood swings, she noticed.  
«Oh...» he just said.  
«There's a catch, isn't there?»  
«Well... yes. Territory issue. Perimetral limitation.»  
«In human terms?»  
«We can do this thing, technically, but we would need to lure all the angels in town.»  
«And they won't move if there's anyone who can see them. Very good, in any city with any kind of night life.»  
«Yes.»  
The girl gave a passing look to a group of young customers browsing fantasy novels, then she lit up:  
«Look, what is it you would need to lure the angels? I mean, you know how to set a bait, right?»  
«Sure, that part is relatively easy. The problem is how to get them moving with all the people around,» he said as his frown grew deeper. «No, it cannot be done, I am afraid.»  
She smiled. You don't get a chance to show how it's done to a millennial being every day.  
«You are a Time Lord, Doctor, aren't you?» she said.  
«Sure, but where are you going with that?»  
«So your domain is time proper, you would say.»  
«Pretty much.»  
«Well, I am the Book Lady, as you yourself noticed.»  
«Of... course?» he replied, his eyes squinting a bit as if to try and see in her head.  
«Then let me show you my domain, sweetie.»  
She loved the puzzled look on his face as she took out her phone and started typing on the screen; and reveled in the apparent helplessness of her timefaring guest before her very human resources. Then she put the phone down and waited. The Doctor waited with her, seemingly unsure on what he should say.  
Then came a sound from the boys a couple of shelves away. One of them took his phone out and started reading something, then showed it to his friends. Whose phones, in turn, were starting to come off for some reason. A few other groups in the store made the same scene.  
«That was you, wasn't it?» asked the Doctor, and she would say he looked almost scared.  
«Of course, dear,» she chuckled.  
«So... what is happening?»  
"Tables reversed," she laughed inside, finding she was actually feeling quite excited about it all.  
«Welcome to the fandom, Doctor. The one domain on Earth that spans through continents, ages, peoples. We're practically everywhere, and ready to pick up arms if the battle is worth it.»  
«Oh. And... What is exactly you told them?»  
«I did not contact them all directly, of course. I simply set up a flash mob for tonight all through town. And, according to the reactions I'm seeing, we should have quite the army with us.»  
«You are completely crazy, young woman.»  
«The word you are looking for is awesome, I think.»  
«Point taken,» he admitted.  
He seemed to ponder for a few seconds how the situation had suddenly evolved. She could see his hands tracing quick diagrams in midair, more and more frantically. And then he stopped all of a sudden.  
«We should go back to your apartment, now.»  
«And the books?»  
«I'm a quick reader, I already learned most of what's in them.»  
«Remember me to throw you out at once the next time you walk in here.»  
And she led him out of the store.

«What shall we do with Minerva, by the way?» she asked.  
They were standing in front of the gate to her house.  
«We be very cautious and walk around her, both looking at her all the time. So if one blinks, the other is still staring. Not too difficult, right?»  
«If you say so.»  
She had hoped for a shred of a plan, and that was not it, by far. But she was getting used to things not making quite sense, so she opened the door. And sure enough, Minerva was back in her place, but looking straight at them with hostility in her stare.  
«You are sure about this, right?» she asked, not wholly convinced about the quantum lock story.  
«It's always worked so far, at least.»  
«You people skills are sorely lacking, mister. But let's go anyway.»  
They entered cautiosly slow and barely resisting the urge to break into a run as they inched closer to the statue.  
«You didn't factor one thing in, Doctor.»  
«And what is it?»  
«Our dependency on electrivity.»  
The Doctor looked up for a second to the lamp giving light to the hall. And quickly turned it back on the statue of Minerva. Had it already moved? Did the girl keep her eyes on it as he was distracted?  
«We should not let our minds wander. Let's climb the stairs, open the door and get in. Hopefully there will be no surprises.»  
«I like it when you are so certain all of a sudden.»  
They walked up the stairs, trying to keep their eyes straight on Minerva. It was not a long climb. So it was with great disappointment that the girl saw the Doctor tripping from under her and crashing into her lap, and breaking their line of sight.  
She hit down hard, and as much as her first thought was to keep looking at it, she found herself staring at a wall, and as she brought her eyes back up, Minerva was looking at them from just one landing away, her face now the face of an angel, enraged.  
«Doctor, please, look up.»  
«I am, believe me. How many steps to your landing?»  
«Four. And a door to unlock.»  
«Good. Now, my dear, if you will, I'll try to keep looking until the door is open, but please be quick. If there's a fault with these old eyes, it's that they are very sensitive to dust and pretty much any other agent you can find in an old building.»  
«Awesome,» she groaned.  
She ran quickly to the door, and tried to put the key in and make it turn while keeping her eye on the angel downstairs. "Harder than I thought" she cursed.  
«If you could be so kind as to speed up the process, I think my eyes are going to be watering very soon.»  
"Well," she thought, "here goes nothing", and she looked away.  
The key went finally in, she turned it and gave a good kick at the door, regretting as she did it. She turned to the Doctor to see the angel nearly over him, just a few steps away.  
«Sorry, Doctor!»  
And with that she grabbed him by his shoulders and pulled him inside. And kicked the door again to slam it in the face of the angel. She heard it banging on it.  
«We should put something on that door,» said the Doctor. «And keep an eye on the window, while we're at it.»  
«Or two. You move the stuff, mister, I'll start my laptop.»  
«Hey, I thought I was the brains here,» he said, in a mock protest.  
«You may have the brains, sweetie, but I have the army.»  
So the Doctor pushed all furniture he could move against the door and went on the balcony to keep watch.  
«So we have a few hours before our friends turn up in forces, am I right?» he asked.  
«Yes, and as far as I can see we have a lot of people signed up for this. They should cover most of the city. What else do you need to know?»  
«It will be cloudy tonight, right?»  
«Let me check... positive.»  
«Good. Just what the Doctor ordered...» he laughed softly. «We may be able to do this thing after all.»  
«Anything else while you are busy celebrating?»  
«Technology! They all have cellphones, right?»  
«Most, plus some the odd wi-fi only tablet, and Bluetooth... turned off on every single unit.»  
«When are you going to learn sonic, I wonder... Well, that will have to do. Can you take the laptop with you?»  
«Where? On the roofs?»  
«Well, that was the idea, but I guess it's impractical enough. Just wait for me here.»  
«Where are you going?»  
She turned her head from the screen and he was no longer there.  
"Well, let's at least be ready," she thought, and she started packing up.  
Until she noticed a problem. The door was still covered by an topside armchair, and there was an angel outside the window, and the window was open.  
"Great, what now?"  
«Book Lady, are you there?» came a familiar voice from behind the door.  
«What now?» she cried.  
«You wouldn't believe our luck. Minerva left her guard post so we can leave freely. She must be looking for another way in.»  
«You don't say!»  
«Don't get all excited, now,» he answered with unnerving relax. «Now just open the door and come out.»  
«I might have a problem, here, Doctor. A problem of the "rock, meet hard place" variety.»  
No answer came. For a few dreadfully long seconds she was convinced the Doctor had left her to her own devices. Then she heard a whirr, and the sound of wood straining. She would have looked, but the angel was there before her, and she must have blinked for an instant because he was now with one foot inside the apartment.  
«I don't know what you are doing, Doctor, but do it quickly!»  
A moment later she heard a loud snap.  
«How are you with jumping and running with a monster on your back, Book Lady?» the Doctor asked.  
«Not my forte, I fear.»  
«Good, then come very slowly while I keep an eye on it. It's in my sight right now. Would you mind some collateral damage to the room, in addition to the door?»  
«Yes, I actually would!» she protested, still looking at the monster.  
«Well, you can always see how the place looked some decades ago, if you prefer,» the Doctor answered, offended.  
«Ok! Ok! Where's your irony when I need it?»  
«Hiding behind your sofa and hoping the angel won't notice.»  
«Fair. I'm coming, then.»  
«You do that, good girl.»  
The whirring sound came again, but nothing happened.  
«Just readying myself to... well, do something in case we need it.»  
«Listen, Doctor,» the girl said as she slowly reached the doorway. «I don't ask, you don't tell. Because you are making me even more scared than I already am.»  
«Accepted. Now be quick, please; I'm sweating.»  
She negotiated the armchair and passed beyond him on the landing, noticing how the door had been ripped from its hinges. She wantedd to ask questions, but she preferred to turn her stare back to the angel as long as she could while walking down.  
With no little effort, the Doctor laid the door back into place, and started to walk down trying to keep an eye on their back.  
«What do you fear? It should be...» she tried to say, then she heard the blast.  
The door exploded sending fragments everywhere and the angel appeared as it tried to pass through it.  
«Run!» the Doctor cried.  
They broke off in a risky run down the stairs, and as they threw a glance back now and then they saw it negotiating the passage.  
«We're lucky it still hasn't gathered its full strength,» the Doctor said, panting more and more.  
They reached the end of the stairs after what seemed an eternity, and kept running through the hall until they literally fell out of the building under the arcade. Two policemen were passing by and they went right up to them.  
«Any problem, miss?»  
«Sure, don't you all worry about me, thanks,» grumbled the Doctor, who had managed to entangle himself with the girl so badly that he had acted as a cushion to her fall.  
«You will stay silent, mister,» said one policeman, threateningly.  
«Don't worry, agent,» said the girl, «I'm perfectly ok. We just had a big scare and ran into each other trying to get out.»  
«Didn't you hear the bang, guys?» said the Doctor.  
«Well, sure, why do you...»  
«Because,» he answered, and pulled himself up as the girl was helped standing, «I am here exactly for that reason.»  
Before they could do anything, he slammed the gate and pointed his screwdriver at its lock.  
«What are you doing?» asked the second policemen, getting angrier.  
The Doctor took a small document holder with white paper in it, showing it to the policemen.  
«Inspector for antiques and protected buildings, directly from the Ministry. This building is seriously damaged and nobody should enter it until we send a team. And don't try to check inside: it's not only dangerous for you but for... the frescoes. We recently uncovered some frescoes and they are suddenly tearing up with the softest human breath. So would you be so kind as to put a nice little tape around this door and check that nobody gets into trouble? 'attaboy.»  
The girl could only look as he put the white paper away as if everything he said made perfect sense.  
«And now, if you please, me and my assistant have another 6 inspections before sundown, which leaves us absolutely no time for staying to chat. Toodle-pip!»  
And he tugged away the girl with him.  
It took a few turns and alleys before she found the spirit to ask.  
«What was all that about? And the white paper? Why did they let us go?»  
«White to you, official document to them. Psychic paper, very handy when facing bureaucracy.»  
«I suppose there's no chance I can have some? You know, between work and everything else it's always such an hassle...»  
«But good for lateral thinking, and probably some survival skills,» he joked.  
«I hate you, some times. By the way, where do we go now? And it would be useful knowing what you have in mind.»  
«Right. Also, I need some bearings. Do you know the way to the cemetary?»  
«The monumental? We should take a cab. It's quite far from here. Out of the city centre proper.»  
«Out of the selenite walls?»  
«Definitely.»  
«That explains a lot of things.»  
«For instance?»  
«It's were I landed my TARDIS. And it's... crowded.»  
«Why is it I feel this means trouble for me?»  
«Because you will have to get around them. But don't worry: I'll be there with you, after all.»  
«Two dead instead of one? I'm in.»  
The Doctor did not comment. He stayed silent until they were in the cab.  
He spoke again as they drove.  
«Can you have them turn on the... let me think... the Bluetooth should be fine. Can you?»  
«It would be the first time anyone uses it for anything useful. Only, people are usually wary of keeping it on. My people more than anyone.»  
«Well,» said the Doctor with a mischievous grin, «it's your army, after all.»  
«Ok, ok, I will come up with something. Let me think... Sure! Local connectivity awareness, it's always a mess to transfer files in the open without it.»  
She typed quickly on the screen keyboard.  
«Can you be sure they will answer to a specific signal?»  
«Not really. There will be a delay of sorts. Can we set an hour?»  
«Well, only if you want to be around the angels more than the essential. Though... How long will it take?»  
«Another fifteen minutes, I guess.»  
«And to dark?»  
«Fifteen more.»  
«Go for forty and we should have just the time to prepare.»  
«What's the plan?»  
«When we are off the vehicle,» he cut.

***

The girl looked at the cemetary in front of her. It was beautiful, a necropolis that had evolved through the ages in an grand city of the dead. And scary, scary like nothing she had ever faced before.  
«Why here?» she asked.  
«I can only guess. Maybe they imprisoned the angels in the city and then somehow transported them here. With most of the population here being dead they must have slowly drained away.»  
«And waiting?»  
«Possibly. This is what worries me the most, but it's also our best chance of liberating the city.»  
«How?»  
«My guess is that they felt a trace. And they must have sensed it through time to become quiescent. And this means whatever they felt was very strong.»  
«Like a smell?» the girl asked, perplexed. «Time smells?»  
«Time energy does. Which is what they are after. But to beat the chance of predating on the population... it must have been incredibly strong. Of course this also means they must have not been many in the city to begin with, otherwise... Oh, no.»  
«What?»  
«Now I get it! Few and with little energy in a place that knew about them. That's why they stopped and waited. They wanted to poison the rest of the statues in the city! And they had so little energy that it took ages. Only then they sniffed the time energy. And now they could have an army at their disposal.»  
The girl was unsure where the problem was.  
«Thing is,» he anticipad her, «I might have missed my calculation by a factor ten... or hundred.»  
«Good to know,» she dismissed, trying to keep him calm. «Does this change anything in the plan?»  
«Well, not really, but still...»  
«So what are you waiting for? Tell me what we do and let's get it over with.»  
The Doctor sighed. It was clear he was not completely comfortable with his plan.  
«Well, here's the thing. They are after a time energy trace. A big one. And right here there are two massive sources of that trace: me and the TARDIS. The TARDIS, however, is sleeping so she doesn't emit much, she has her way of handling such things.»  
«She? Didn't you say it was a spaceship?»  
«Sure she is,» he answered, as if he couldn't understand the point. «Anyway, I have made me noticeable so that I could act as a bait and...»  
«What?» she screamed in his face, very angry.  
"Now he tells me," she thought. "After all this, it comes out he wanted to be tailed."  
«I had my reasons,» he said. «Besides, now they will focus on me and ignore you. Hopefully.»  
«I like your certainties, you know?» she mocked him, faking a smile.  
«I noticed. Anyway, your job is quite simple: as soon as we get to the area where the TARDIS is, you make a run for it while I entertain our friends. Then you enter the TARDIS and there are two controls: a big huge dial near a rotating cloche. Push the dial to eleven, spin and pull the cloche. Sounds easy, doesn't it?»  
«Almost. Which is why I worry that everything will go wrong.»  
«It won't. Trust me.»  
«I do. But you will suffer for every misstep, Doctor, I swear,» and the threat in her voice didn't sound that much like a joke.  
He sat down.  
«No use in entering now. We still need a bit and I don't want to draw them out too soon. It will be hellish enough when we get in and our friends do their thing.»  
She sat beside him. The first tranquil moment in two days. She breathed, thinking about all the crazy things that had gone down in such a short time. And looked at the stranger near her, wondering who or what he really was. Not that she doubted of what he had told her, but she felt there was so much missing.  
«So,» she started, trying not to be too direct, «that thing... the screwdriver. Seems incredibly useful.»  
«Quite,» he replied, with a trace of smugness. «Did a few modifications of late, to fix some old issues with wood. And probably broke other three of four functionalities with that, so I wonder when I'll find out which ones they are.»  
«And what is it you do in your travels? I guess you end up in trouble more often than not, but you don't seem to be actively searching for it, so why do you go around, exactly?»  
He sighed, and his face seemed to grow older for an instant.  
«I am a collector of some kind I guess. Only I collect people. Interesting people, that is.»  
«You mean you take them away?» she asked, as it sounded strange even for him.  
«Not really. I go looking for them and see what happens. You know, the really interesting ones. How do I explain it?»  
«Smart people?»  
«No, that is easy. It's full of smart people, many of them complete bastards, not necessarily ones I want to share my TARDIS with. But, you know, there's that magic kind of interesting. Most people have an interesting side hidden somewhere, and many still are able to bring that out as a specific facet of their personality. But... I have this sort of hunger, in a way. You could call it the dark side of all this travelling. You look for someone who is really special, those who crave for something. And I can see their pathways, so I do know, on some level, what they may be capable of.»  
«What then?»  
«Some, some very select few, they are amazing. You can see the tapestry and every time you move your view ever so slightly, it changes. New details, new sides, something you cannot encompass. They are the really magical ones. Whether they realise it or not. Many do not, they get entangled in the day-to-day and other things, people... And I am not saying those are lesser people in any way, but some choose to embrace a world that is so simplified that they get scared of anything out of their bubble, and will clash with whoever tries to push outwards and see what's there.»  
«And you see me in this... picture?»  
«Partly. In a way.»  
«And what happens then?»  
«Some come with me, and share a part of the journey. As much as they feel like, that is.»  
«It seems very important to you,» the girl observed.  
«It is. It gives me a kind of lens to look at the universe. In a way it helps me being more than what I am.»  
«So why is it, Doctor,» she dared to ask, «that you are travelling alone?»  
He laughed softly. A sad laugh, of those that go with bitter memories and the will to forget. Only she would have put her money on the Doctor not being able to forget any single second of all his life.  
«There's only one kind of journey that is worth, Book Lady. And that kind of journey... well, you simply never come back from it. One may come home, but a s a different person. That's a real journey, start and destination only. And when they do that long enough,» he frowned, «people find out things about themselves. Some they like, some they don't, but they are there in front of them and, well, getting away is hard. And some choose to embrace that, for good or for bad. And some decisions cannot be taken back.»  
«And that's when things get... really bad, as you said earlier?» she dared.  
His turned as if hit by something, and she thought she might have made him angry. But his stare was distant.  
«Basically. But it was a long time ago, and here I am travelling again,» he said, feigning a more upbeat sentiment without much success. «Though the TARDIS is in sore need of some care. But I had to come here.»  
«But why? You mentioned it yesterday, that there were many moments in which you could have come. But I know the angels are not here since yesterday, so what is it?»  
The Doctor took a deep breath, looked straight at her and simply said:  
«Spoilers.»  
Before she could protest, he stood up and walking towards the inner sections of the cemetary. She wanted to say something, but she was quite sure he would not have answered. Not in any useful way.  
After all, they would have time to speak again later. "Keep telling yourself that," she thought.  
They moved quickly, but she could hear steps coming.  
«Don't panic, it's not you they are looking for,» the Doctor reassured her.  
«What, then?»  
«Me, and the TARDIS. We are the ones with the scent. So this is what we are going to do. We'll split up as soon as we get in front of the TARDIS. Big blue box, remember?»  
«Sure.»  
«I'll stay behind so they will notice me and let you in, ok? You good?»  
«I'm good.»  
«Fantastic. Let's do this, then.»  
As they left the arcade they found themselves in a large space with a massive sculpture. As they entered, the girl found so ironic that the are they were in was marked by a plaque as the Gallery of Angels. "So very apt," she said to herself.  
The Doctor stopped and turned back.  
«Keep looking forward, now,» he instructed. «The TARDIS is in front of you, in a niche on the left. You should be able to see it already from here.»  
«Yes, I am.»  
«Great. You go to the door, open, enter and do those things, then I'll take it on, ok?»  
«Perfect.»  
«Good, now take...»  
The words died in his throat as he realised that she was already gone. And he had the key to the TARDIS in his pocket still. And angels not far from him under the arcade.  
«Damn it!» he cursed, and break into a run behind the girl, but not aiming at the TARDIS.  
As the girl passed near a group of angels that had gathered not far from the TARDIS, the Doctor made the effort to climb one of the tombs that could keep him in a higher position. But then he had to watch in horror as the girl tried to open the door and could not. She turned towards him with eyes that were more angry than scared; and they were very scared.  
The angels were caught in the line of sight, so they could not move towards her, but it was a stalemate. There was no way to give the key to the girl; too long a launch to have any precision. And time was running out. It had run out.  
Suddenly the Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver, held it high above his head and pressed a button. There was a blindling flash over the whole city and then everything went black.  
«I am here, fluffy wings!» he screamed at the top of his lungs, and snapped the fingers of his free hand.  
The sound echoed everywhere, and a blade of light washed over the angels as the doors of the TARDIS opened. The girl saw they were now many more than before, and they were closer to her.  
«What's happening?» she cried.  
«Go in, don't think about it!» ordered the Doctor, and she could see he was almost as scared as she was.  
She bolted for the door, just a few steps but they seemed the longest she had ever taken. She pulled the doors behind her, and hoped the Doctor would keep his eyes steady there, in case the angels tried to break in.  
"Just how solid can this thing be?" she thought, then she missed a heartbeat. Whatever was the place she had stepped into, it was... "Not now!" she pushed. Who knew what a few seconds may mean. She rotated the cloche and pulled it, while her eyes scanned frantically for the dial. And there it was, only it was limited to number ten. But she did not have the time to worry, and turned it all the way, reaching what must be the eleven. Suddenly the pillar at the center of the console started moving up and down and from under the floor came a stream of golden dust. The whole room seemed to be shaking, now.  
The face of the Doctor appeared on one of the monitors, one of the few that weren't broken. She was starting to notice how much of the TARDIS was heavily damaged. But she didn't have time to think about that. She looked at the monitor, where the Doctor was saying something.  
«Book Lady, I might be in a bit of a pickle at the moment. Could you please open the doors of the TARDIS now?»  
«But they are right outside!»  
«Sure, and they want to get in, but they are after the time energy you are flooding the control room with. And this is a bad thing.»  
«How bad?»  
«You either open or the control room explodes.»  
«Couldn't you have said it earlier?» she shouted, and went for the door.

***

So there the she was, the girl, knowing that outside everything was dark and that creatures from all and that she was safe in a geometrically inconsistent room being filled with unstable energy. And wondering what would happen when she would pull the doors open. Not that she did have any choice, anyway.  
"Let's face it."  
She walked to the doors and pulled. And an angel was staring right at her two steps away and the Doctor stumbled over a monumental tomb surrounded by angels trying to climb and reach him.  
She heard a wooshing sound behind her and the stream of time energy washed over her flowing towards the Doctor. He suddenly stood upright and seemed to be winding the stream around the screwdriver.  
«Look away!» he cried.  
«What? Are you crazy?»  
«You have to trust me! Jump inside, leave it open and don't open your eyes!»  
She was sweating a lot, and the angel right in front her did not help.  
"Hell," she thought, and she threw herself near the console, closing her eyes.  
The sound of a blast came in her wake, so strong that she wondered if the TARDIS was finally going to explode, but nothing of the kind happened.  
She waited for what seemed an eternity, then a voice came through the monitor.  
«Are you still there, Book Lady?» asked the Doctor.  
«Possibly.»  
«I need one last favour. I'm sending a message to some friends, very urgent. Would you be so kind as to reroute it through the TARDIS console?»  
«If you told me how, maybe,» she answered, slightly insulted that he would not check on her safety before asking.  
«Blue button between the red wheel and the grey spinner.»  
«Got it, here you are.»  
«Thanks a lot. Let's see if we can have some friends to help.»  
«With what?»  
«Cleanup, maybe? You will have to stand in for a while yet, I'm sorry.»  
She sat down and finally gave a look at the room around her. The room was fascinating ,with all kinds of devices spread around it, and none that she could conceive a specific use for. And the pillar in its center, now moving slower, and the console. But many parts of the room showed signs of damage, and the rooms behind the farthest doors were probably in a similar state. A strange combination of new, old and broken.  
A rumbling noise distracted her from her thoughts. She heard a lot of movement outside, and looked outside. The angels were now farther from the TARDIS, and all motionless. As she put her head out and looked up, she understood.  
A starship was flying very low over the cemetary, with a group of aliens standing motionless in a glass pod under it, staring at the angels. As she looked, the Doctor, climbed down from his tomb and came to her.  
«Here's the cavalry, then. They are very good, they should be able to replace all infected statues in a few minutes. Well, except transportation, but we have already set up something. Special installation for some kind of fair or project, all kindly "agreed" with some higher authority that no one will want to bother. And any way, everything will be back in place, minus the monsters that is. They can cook up some good replicas.»  
«But what is it you did, exactly?»  
«Tried to make the chameleon circuit do things, more or less. The fact is that it is extremely good at reflecting things around it, in order to make camouflage better, so I basically called them to me and then had the TARDIS load up with energy and become a giant mirror for our friends. It worked quite well, I would say.»  
As he said all this, teams of aliens in suits were moving between the angels, very cautiously, inspecting them and wrapping them in a strange material.  
«Not much, but it will be enough for their travel. Hoping they won't get stranded anywhere. What do you say if we took a walk while they finish?»  
«Sounds good to me,» she said.

***

They walked under the stars as the cloud cover suddenly opened over them. After all that darkness, even the light of the moon felt somehow warm to the girl's eyes. And the glow of streetlamps, as they turned back on, was adding to the effect, almost as if the sun had to rise at any time.  
«I'm still not sure what was the idea, with all the plan...» the girl asked the Doctor.  
«Quite simple, actually. Your good friends intercepted and boosted a special signal that turned off all lights nearby. Since it was cloudy, the Angels were then perfectly free to move... at least until anybody got used to the lower light, but we were lucky on that and they scrambled for our time energy trace. And so we got them all in one place, and you know the rest all too well.»  
«All too well is precisely how I would describe it. Still, it seems common people still have their uses, don't you think?» she teased.  
«It seems you have a point.»  
«Where will you be heading, now?»  
«I still have a lot of repairs to be done to the TARDIS. I'm not exactly anxious of starting a new journey with she in such a state. So I will probably stay here for a bit, the place seems to agree with me. And then I'll be away again...»  
He suddenly seemed to be caught in some memory or concept, or at least so she thought. Then he spoke.  
«And what are you going to do, now?»  
«Well, get on with my life, I guess?»  
«Sure, you could. That would be definitely perfect.»  
«Far from it, but that's what I have here.»  
«Come with me, then,» he said, and it felt very sudden to the girl. «Just for a while.»  
«Wow, mister, aren't you running a bit?»  
The Doctor laughed, and this time there was a levity she had never heard before from him.  
«It's not like that. I never used boxes or states for those around me, and I will not start now. People should not live like that, simply. People are... actors, if you want, in the world around them. Persons are persons and they do things, but they cannot be things, and they should not. And that is all that my invite is. Say you want to go somewhere, or ask me where I can take you, it's all up to you. Even leaving.»  
«It was not the trace, am I right?» the girl asked.  
The Doctor smiled.  
«No, it wasn't. I mean, that was why the angels were after you.»  
«After me?»  
«Yes, it wasn't a case. Remember that time energy does not simply move into space but in time also. So the angels were actually chasing the echoes of... I'm not sure, actually. Maybe the time stream you unleashed left a trace on you. Or maybe it's the echo of future travels. Too early to tell.»  
«Are you saying I was predestined to come with you?»  
«Not at all,» he laughed, «though it would be interesting.»  
«That word again. Why did you come yesterday, Doctor? What did you see?»  
«I saw a wonderful person. An amazing person who I wanted to reach out to. And I stood there a bit, seeing her good and bad moments. And then she had a very bad day, as in extremely bad and sad. And I thought that maybe that was a good moment to be there for her. Offer some distraction, maybe. Even if I understand that it came out a bit strange and confusing.»  
«Well, sweetie, you still need to learn a couple of things about timings and the proper way to get in contact with a woman.»  
«I may have had an inkling of that.»  
«So now I am in the catalogue?»  
«Hardly. I cannot really get my mind around you. There is always a different nuance, another shade, another facet. And believe me, it is fascinating. Knowing just enough to understand there's a unique mind in there, and at the same time not being able to shrink down this small reality to a manageable size. Something that can be described in a couple of words. So yes, I would very much like to share a few moments with you. If you want.»  
«And I have to decide right here and now?»  
«No. Just try to get in contact. I will notice, trust me. After all, I received your signal the first time, didn't I?»  
«Makes sense, but... why should I?»  
«That, I have to say, is up to you. You should not come because I think you are such an amazing woman, nor because your lens may be precious to me in these travels. Or to be fixed. That I can tell: you are too amazing to be treated like something broken. But maybe there are colours you still haven't seen that can be added to your picture. Yes, that maybe I can do for you. Though I don't pretend to know how, yet.»  
They were back to the TARDIS. The aliens were still working on the statues. The Doctor had mentioned earlier that they would put the copies back in place in a few days with some excuse. It still seemed weird to her. Everything seemed quite weird. And the Doctor more than anything else.  
She looked at him on the door of the TARDIS: the panama, the orange scarf, the beard, a half smile and the ever changing eyes. He looked at her as if he was trying to solve a great puzzle, and he probably was. He bowed.  
"Maybe," she told herself, and smiled.


End file.
